Cultivating Ecological Perspectives in Fulldome Space

Presentation theme: future sustainability and worldviews

The dome has always been a space for contemplating humanity’s relationship to the local, global and universal systems that influence and support our existence. However, many of the stories we tell in planetarium domes are derived from what Professor Tim Ingold describes in his essay Globes and Spheres (2000) as a detached global perspective. Ingold (2000) proposes when the world is conceived as a globe it becomes an object of appropriation and the planet is viewed as a resource for consumption and control. In this global worldview humanity is positioned on the outside, and from this position we conquer space, prevail against adversity and triumph over the unknown. 

An alternative perspective is a spherical worldview. In this systems-based discourse humanity inhabits and dwells-within a planetary sphere. Each individual is situated in a complex whole and resonates with the cycles and rhythms of their local, planetary and universal environment. In a spherical worldview, humanity belongs to the world and is able to engage and participate actively with the diversity and multiplicity of our larger ecological systems. 

In this presentation Dr Michaela French discusses how fulldome space lends itself to telling stories that are grounded in a spherical worldview. Michaela draws on recent artistic fulldome projects as case studies to provide examples of how sustainable narratives can be developed to cultivate ecological perspectives within fulldome space. 

This presentation invites the planetarium community to consider how the discourses that drive dominant themes in planetaria might shift toward a systems-based spherical worldview to create more sustainable future-facing narratives.

Image © SPB | Natalie Toczek